Chapter 543

Hou Xuan was truly shaken.

He had a good relationship with the people of the Huang Ling Sect; he had seen martial arts experts and sorcerers casting spells, all within his range of understanding.

But the Twelve Yuan Chen before his eyes were on an entirely different level.

Summoning poisonous bees, firearms, curse techniques, martial arts...

The coordination of various powers actually had such might!

Sha Lifei and the others naturally couldn't spare the time to pay attention to Hou Xuan; they quickly scattered, picking up the spoils of war and searching for survivors.

There wasn't much to say about the spoils.

The two Divine Fire Guns were entirely forged from spiritual materials; even if they didn't use them, they could sell for a high price.

And they had caught one survivor.

"Kill... kill me!"

A middle-aged man was dug out from a dirt pile, covered in snow and filth, with a gaping hole in his abdomen, blood flowing out in spurts.

His internal organs were damaged; clearly, he wouldn't live much longer.

This heart-wrenching pain also made him wish for death.

Sha Lifei narrowed his eyes, ripped a badge from the man's waist, and sneered, "A Company Commander of the Commandant's Office, when did you become a dog for the Prince of Shu? Could it be that you're too lazy to listen to the Emperor's words?"

The man gritted his teeth and said, "We were originally under the Prince of Shu. When we campaigned in all directions back then, our troops were disbanded after returning to Shu, and only then were we transferred to the Commandant's Office."

"So that's how it is..."

Sha Lifei nodded slightly. "There are a few things I want to ask you. Speak honestly, and I'll give you a quick end."

After saying this, without waiting for the other party to think, he asked directly, "What did the people from the Prince of Shu's mansion find in the village?"

"What do you want to do?"

"And this Loose Hair Sect sorcerer, isn't he a subordinate of Young Master Wuxiang? Could it be that you have already joined forces?"

The man was already covered in cold sweat from the pain, his vision going black, and he let out a miserable cry, gritting his teeth, "We don't know why we came; we just brought guns to help."

"The people from the Chengdu underworld have already been scattered; that Loose Hair Sect sorcerer was the inside man, ah... hurry up and do it!"

"Lying to ghosts!"

Sha Lifei sneered, "That Young Master Wuxiang brought a bunch of experts; with just your bunch, could you scatter them?"

"Someone else did it!"

"Who?!"

"The... the Ghost Opera Troupe..."

Before he could finish speaking, the man could no longer endure it, vomiting blood repeatedly, finally fainting completely, his breath growing weaker and weaker.

Pfft!

Sha Lifei stabbed a blade into his temple, then performed a flourish with the blade to shake off the blood, his expression turning solemn: "Let's leave quickly!"

They hadn't expected that the Prince of Shu's mansion had actually hired the Ghost Opera Troupe.

Although it was a newly reorganized group, daring to use that name and being able to scatter the Chengdu underworld meant their methods were certainly not ordinary.

If they continued to stay here, they might run into them.

The others also knew the severity of the situation; without a word, they packed their things and quickly left the ruins of Yang Family Village.

"Everyone, it's better if we don't enter the city."

Halfway there, Hou Xuan suddenly spoke, "Now that we've killed people from the Prince of Shu's mansion, Guan County will surely be under martial law; they might even mobilize the garrison."

"And the 'Ghost Opera Troupe'..."

Speaking of this, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and he shook his head, "Going head-to-head with them is not the best strategy."

"That's true."

Sha Lifei nodded, "Brother Hou, what idea do you have?"

Hou Xuan pondered for a moment and pointed to the mountain range on the right, "There's a tea garden on that mountain; I invested silver in it. It's closed for the winter, and only two brothers are sent to guard it; it's very quiet."

"Everyone can stay on the mountain for now; there's firewood, rice, and flour there, and no one will disturb you."

"That sounds good, many thanks."

"Sigh, fellow travelers in the martial world, no need for formalities."

With a plan, the group immediately turned around and headed up the mountain...

On the other side, Yang Family Village.

Not long after Sha Lifei and the others left, a parrot flapped its wings and arrived, landing on a nearby treetop to preen its feathers.

This parrot was somewhat eerie; its feathers were actually blood-colored, with only its crest, claws, beak, and eyes being pitch black.

It didn't look like a species from the Divine Land.

Its bird claws were also very special; the tips were sharp and dark, while other parts glowed with a blue-gray color, extremely similar to the color of a dead person's body.

As the bird claws gripped the tree trunk, they actually hissed and emitted blue smoke, clearly carrying an extremely terrifying toxin.

"Dead, haha, dead..."

Seeing the corpses all over the ground, the parrot seemed very excited, its feathers standing on end, its crest even exploding upward, flapping its wings and letting out bursts of strange laughter.

"Shut up!"

A hoarse, sharp voice rang out.

An old woman leaning on a dragon-headed cane walked slowly from the snow, dressed in a robe with the character "Longevity," dressed like an old female lead from an opera troupe.

Hanging from her waist were several leather pouches.

And at the dragon's mouth of the dragon-headed cane hung a rotating prayer wheel, continuously emitting a "humming" sound.

This sound carried a strange power.

When the strange parrot heard it, its feathers stood on end, its two small eyes filled with resentment, but not daring to resist, it lowered its head deeply.

Not only that, but there was also movement in the surroundings.

Wolves, badgers, rats, rabbits... all kinds of animals rustled as they crawled out of the snow forest, and even hibernating snakes were no exception.

All the animals were trembling, rolling on the ground, seemingly very uncomfortable, yet not daring to resist.

The old woman sniffed the air, narrowed her eyes, and said coldly, "There's the smell of new-style gunpowder."

"Granny Chang, can you find the people?"

A deep voice came from behind.

Accompanied by heavy footsteps, a tall man walked out, his face like black lacquer, dressed in leather armor, holding a Guan blade in his hand, with five dharma flags inserted behind his back.

He looked exactly like a martial lead from an opera troupe.

After hearing this, the old woman shook her head slightly and said, "Difficult, difficult, difficult. The other party also has experts who used medicinal powder to wipe away all traces."

"Hee hee hee..."

A strange laugh came from under the snow, "Granny Chang, I heard you used to be called 'Soul-Chasing for a Thousand Miles,' why aren't you sharp anymore?"

"Hmph!"

The old woman let out a cold snort and struck the ground with her dragon-headed cane.

Thump!

With a muffled sound, snowflakes splattered everywhere.

It didn't look like she used much force, but the soil underground exploded, and a figure flew out, revealing a small figure.

This was a dwarf, about the height of a child, but with the appearance of an adult, with a large head and small chin, looking exactly like a radish head.

On top of his head were two tufts of hair, and his face was painted with clown makeup.

The old woman casually pulled a dry tobacco pipe from her waist and knocked three times on the clown's head, *bonk, bonk, bonk*.

The clown didn't resist, his head shrinking in and out as if being knocked like a sweet potato, and his face also wore a foolish smile.

"What a stinking mouth."

The old woman smiled, "I only said they used tricks, I didn't say I couldn't find these people."

After saying this, she turned the tobacco pipe over, scooped into a leather pouch at her waist, and filled it with strange black tobacco.

After lighting the pipe, the old woman took two puffs, took a deep breath, formed a dharma seal, and sprayed it violently toward the surroundings.

Whoosh~

In an instant, a wild wind whistled, and smoke swirled.

This smoke carried a certain irritating smell, as if it were a living thing, churning up and down, all of it drilling into the nostrils of the surrounding small animals.

Soon, these little creatures, which had been trembling, turned blood-red in the eyes, as if they had gone mad, scurrying everywhere.

Finally, they ran rapidly in one direction. It was exactly where Sha Lifei and the others had left...

"Look, isn't it done."

The old woman satisfiedly knocked out the ash, filled another bag with ordinary tobacco, and after taking a few puffs, asked, "What were those juniors called again?"

"I know, I know!"

The clown clapped his hands, jumping around, "I heard they're called the Twelve Yuan Chen, Ox Wu Ba, Great Luck Yuan Chen, Horse Sha Lifei, Victory Light Yuan Chen, Rooster Wang Daoxuan, Follower Yuan Chen..."

"Enough!"

The old woman's pipe swung down again, but instead of knocking, she directly slammed the copper bowl onto the clown's forehead.

Hiss!

The hot tobacco immediately burned the clown's head, emitting blue smoke.

"Hee hee hee, doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt."

The clown wasn't angry at all, instead laughing and twisting around.

No mistakes in the content, keep reading!

The old woman couldn't be bothered to pay attention, knocked the ash off on his head, then turned her head to look into the distance, sighing, "The juniors nowadays, tsk tsk... when we roamed the martial world back then, we didn't have such big mouths."

"Let's go, let's go meet them..."

After saying this, she leaned on her dragon-headed cane and walked into the distance.

The black-faced martial lead followed behind with his blade and asked in a deep voice, "Granny Chang, should we call the music troupe?"

"Of course, a lion hunting a rabbit still uses its full strength."

And the clown behind, the burn on his head actually disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, jumping and hopping to catch the blood parrot.

Hearing the two's words, the clown was immediately happy, "I'll go call the music troupe, don't let the lady be abducted by someone, hee hee..."

After saying this, he formed a dharma seal and jumped directly into the pit he had just dug, but a line of snow flashed by rapidly, heading toward the mountain not far away...

…………

High on the mountain, Li Yan looked out into the distance.

He saw the waves rolling in the distance, the Dujiangyan Dam's momentum magnificent.

His expression was solemn; he looked at the sun about to set, turned around, and returned to the Guanlan Ancient Cave, closing the stone door with a rumble.

Thump!

As the stone door closed tightly, the sound of the wind suddenly became much quieter.

Li Yan checked the lotus lamp again; he didn't rush to light it, but sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.

Entering the visualization space again, there were already changes inside.

This was the first day of seclusion.

On the first night, he absorbed the "White Jade Capital" spiritual rhyme, and with the help of the power of heaven and earth treasures, he directly expanded the Louguan.

Now, at the top of Mount Luo Feng, there were not only three divine towers and one palace, but also eight cave dwellings inside and outside, with overlapping palaces outside and caves and shrines inside.

Practicing the Fengdu Method, combined with the "Luo Feng Scripture," his visualization method could be considered to have completely laid the framework.

Last night, it was mainly about stabilizing the foundation.

Practicing all night, the innate Yin Sha Qi gathered, making these palaces stable, their appearance also more ancient and substantial, gloomy and mysterious.

Of course, the more critical part was the divine statues.

Inside the eight palace shrines outside, eight Yin official divine general dharma images had already condensed, mostly wearing yellow turbans and soap-colored hemp shoes, one hand holding a token, the other carrying iron rods, iron locks, flails, and other objects.

These were the eight divine generals of the outer altar.

Their names were Zhang Yuanlian, courtesy name Daolian; Chen Yuanqing, courtesy name Daoqing; Fan Yuanzhang, courtesy name Daozhang...

The eight generals of the outer altar were mainly responsible for punishment and execution, pursuing and capturing criminals; each image was fierce, symbolizing the Eight Trigrams, and their powers were all different.

Every time Li Yan captured demonic energy, it was they who appeared.

Of course, it was impossible for Li Yan to fully simulate the abilities of these divine generals; he only shaped them with Yin Qi and could borrow their power.

On ordinary days, he could borrow the power of the eight generals to cast spells.

When setting up the Fengdu Dharma Altar Grand Array, he could also draw upon the power of the Yin officials.

If his cultivation reached the sixth floor, condensing the second palace and obtaining the "Fengdu Nine Springs Command Talisman" supernatural power, he would be qualified to truly mobilize the Yin official divine generals.

As for the dharma bodies of the eight generals of the inner altar, one needed to reach the fifth floor of cultivation to condense them.

And the six palace demon kings under Mount Luo Feng could only be borrowed after condensing the "Fengdu Nine Springs Command Talisman."

Although it was just the beginning, Li Yan was very satisfied.

Not to mention anything else, just these eight generals of the outer altar could provide blessings when performing Fengdu techniques on ordinary days, making their power reach a higher level.

This was the advantage of a powerful cultivation method.

Even if his cultivation was still shallow, he could still wrestle with those experts.

Thinking of this, Li Yan again gathered his spirit, entered meditation to nourish his mind, and prepared for building the tower tonight.

Unknowingly, night fell.

The wind on the mountain tonight blew even harder, and it started snowing again; the wind whistled, as if a fierce beast was raging.

At the hour of the Rat, Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

He lit all the lotus soul-guiding lamps, paced the steps, spat water, formed a sword seal, and pointed at the ground in front of him.

Whoosh~

In an instant, a wild wind blew, and cold Yin Sha Qi rose up.

This was the purest Yin Sha Qi of the earth veins, even carrying some power from the Netherworld Yin officials, like arrows, rushing toward him.

Li Yan was already used to it; he paced the steps again, and the moment these powers approached, he easily dodged them and guided them into the dharma altar.

The chill spread rapidly, and white frost condensed on the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye, with the dharma altar as the center, cracking and forming cold ice.

Li Yan sat cross-legged and entered meditation.

"Governing life and death, judging life and death. The ten palaces pour their hearts, the six caves bow their hands..."

His soul merged with the divine statues, chanting the "Fengdu Precious Proclamation."

Rumble!

The Yin sea below surged and roared.

And at the top of Mount Luo Feng, the innate Gang and Sha Qi fell, one white and one black, whistling and circling, like a Taiji diagram, wrapping all the palaces.

Li Yan felt neither joy nor sorrow, watching coldly.

The dharma seals in his hands changed continuously, and the sound of the proclamation never ceased.

Vaguely, the "Gansi Lianwan Repeated Heavenly Palace" began to expand, like a foundation, and a phantom of a divine tower appeared above it again.

In the first two days, the foundation had already been laid.

Now building the fourth floor was just a matter of course.

I don't know how much time passed, the black and white clouds dissipated, all the palaces grew larger by a circle again, and the fourth floor was also condensed.

Li Yan opened his eyes slowly and let out a sigh of relief.

He didn't expect it to be so smooth this time.

Looking at the lotus lamps around him, they had only burned halfway.

He opened his pocket watch to check the time; it had just passed the hour of the Ox.

A smile appeared on Li Yan's face; he stood up, his left hand quickly formed a dharma seal, and he pushed out with force.

Crackle!

In an instant, thunder roared.

This was the Northern Emperor Yin Thunder Palm.

It didn't have such power when used on ordinary days.

Now that his cultivation was at the fourth floor, plus the blessing of the power of the eight generals of the outer altar, its power was even comparable to a sorcerer at the fifth floor of cultivation.

Li Yan stood motionless, letting the thunder roar on his left hand.

After a while, he finally withdrew the technique.

He took a breath, his eyes a bit tired.

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages; borrowing the blessing of the eight generals of the outer altar to exert power at a higher level also consumed a lot of mental energy.

It seems this method can only be used at critical moments.

However, after reaching the fourth floor, new techniques can also begin to be practiced...

(End of chapter)